FIG. 1 depicts a portion of a conventional energy assisted magnetic recording (EAMR) transducer 10. For clarity, FIG. 1 is not to scale. The conventional EAMR transducer 10 is used in writing a recording media (not shown in FIG. 1) and receives light, or energy, from a conventional laser (not shown in FIG. 1). The conventional EAMR transducer 10 includes a conventional waveguide 12, coil connection 18, a conventional grating 20, a conventional near-field transducer (NFT) 22, and a conventional pole 30. Light from a laser (not shown) is incident on the grating 20, which coupled light to the waveguide 12. Light is guided by the conventional waveguide 12 to the NFT 22 near the air-bearing surface (ABS). In the embodiment shown, the conventional waveguide 12 is a parabolic solid immersion mirror. The NFT 22 focuses the light to magnetic recording media (not shown), such as a disk. In operation, light from the laser is coupled to the conventional EAMR transducer 10 using the grating 20. The waveguide 12 directs light from the grating 12 to the NFT 22. The NFT 22 focuses the light from the waveguide 12 and heats a small region of the conventional media (not shown). The conventional EAMR transducer 10 magnetically writes data to the heated region of the recording media by energizing the conventional pole 30.
Although the conventional EAMR transducer 10 may function, there are drawbacks. A sufficient amount of power from the laser is to be delivered to the media in order to heat the media to a desired temperature. However, without more, the NFT 22, and thus the conventional EAMR transducer 10, may not be able to couple this sufficient energy into the media. Thus, the ability of the conventional EAMR transducer 10 to write to the media may be adversely affected.
Accordingly, what is needed is a system and method for improving optical efficiency and performance of an EAMR transducer.